Conference back40::soapbox

    
    If you visit Maynard, remember to see the MSO_Babes.
    
    8^)

    Those visiting the northeast that are looking for something a
    little out of the ordinary may consider a visit to Salem Mass.
    Salem is a nice mix of a small town with two very different
    but interesting aspects to its history.

    The first aspect is Salem's distinction as being the site
    of the witch trials of the late 1600s, in which several
    innocents were put to death.

    There is a museum dedicated to the witchcraft hysteria,
    but I personally think its a bit of a rip off. However,
    the Peabody Essex museum, near the witchcraft museum,
    has far more interesting artifacts from the period, as
    well as an interesting amalgam of maritime exhibits (the
    other key aspect of Salem), natural history, Asian art,
    and early American art and furniture.

    No visit to Salem is complete without a stop in Laurie
    Cabot's (the head of the Salem Wiccan groups) witchcraft shop,
    where on most weekends one can obtain "psychic readings",
    as well as a fairly interesting selection of witchcraft
    paraphernalia and books. Even if you're not "into" this
    sort of thing, it's pretty harmless fun...

    There are many other nice little shops and museums in
    Salem, all pretty much within walking distance of the
    town centre.

    -b

    Not far from the Topeka office is the world famous Boneless Chicken
    Ranch.  
    
    The World's Largest Ball of Twine is about 30 minutes from MPO.
    
    The World's Largest Chair is in Gardner not far from WMO.
    
    The largest self contained party is in KAO.  

    
    
    RE: .1  This is a sight that I would not miss, more beautiful than the
    Shenandoah Valley in autumn, more breathtaking than the sunset down in 
    Key West Florida.
    
    
    Mike

    	CXO -- Colorado Springs.
    
    	You can live here for years and not see it all.  Outdoors you
    	can find mountains and plains, forests and fields, wildlife,
    	natural formations, caves, abandoned mines, hunting, fishing,
    	camping, skiing, whitewater rafting, ...
    
    	If you are not a roamer you can still find all the tourist-traps
    	yor heart desires.  Museums, wild-wild west history, hall of the
    	presidents, pro rodeo hall of fame, quaint shops at Old Colorado
    	City and Manitou, the Air Force Academy, the Olympic Training
    	Center, even a burgeoning arcade industry.  And visit the drive-in
    	this summer before they rip it down in September to build a super
    	Wal-Mart.

    Speaking of chicken, for those visiting the northeast, there are
    two chicken dinner outings worth exploring. In fact, there are
    several "all you can eat" chicken places in New England, but
    my personal favorite is in (I believe) Burrilville Rhode Island.
    It is called "Wright's Chicken Farm".

    For seven or eight bucks, you get all the chicken, elbow macaroni
    with sauce, salad, french fries, and rolls you can eat, served
    family style.

    Take rt 146 south out of Worcester Mass, take the 2nd 146A
    exit, bear left at the end, go until you reach a traffic
    light (with a Cumberland Farms on your right), take a right,
    and follow the signs to Wrights...

    -b

Speaking of poultry, don't miss the revolving turkey just minutes from ZKO.

    Do you like large plastic cows?

    The world's biggest collection of them can be seen, while you
    wait in the inevitable long line, at the Hilltop Steak House
    in Saugas Mass, on rt 1 (southbound side). Saugus is 15 miles
    (or so) north of Boston.

    The Hilltop features beef steaks, ribs and some seafood.

    Fairly expensive, but not particularly fancy. A woman with
    an extremely annoying voice will call your number and tell
    you what room to go to when the Gods have deemed you
    worthy of a seat. No vibrating beepers are available. The
    dining rooms are named after old west cities (Carson
    City, Dodge City, Kansas City, etc.)

    I prefer to wait it out in the lounge... but beware, the
    mixed drinks will have you hammered in no time if you
    don't watch out (they seem to have Chinese restaurant
    syndrome).

    -b

    <---- The worst steak I have ever had the misfortune of eating. 
    Hilltop knows how to disappoint IMO etc.

re: .-1, Brian

I agree - what they serve in the restaurant is lousy, beef-wise. But
what they sell in the butcher shop is normally top drawer. Maybe they
don't use their own.

    
    RE: -1
    
    Actually, I don't think it's bad... I've eaten better, but for
    northeast fare it's pretty good. IMHO, they don't serve a
    bad filet mignon, and the portions will feed you for a week.
    
    -b

Speaking of Route 1, isn't the repro Leaning Tower of Pisa nearby?

    Aye, the portions are large and the drinks generous, reasonable too.  
    
     
    

    
    Yep, appropriately titled the "Leaning Tower of Pizza" (it's
    a pizza/Italian food place).
    
    Never tried it though...
    
    -b

    (SNO) Sydney - the beaches, the Rock, the pubs, the babes.
    
    (NZO) Aukland - the ports, the pubs, the babes.
    
    (ZPO) Singapore - the restaurants, the shops, the babes.
    
    (HGO) Hong Kong - the Peak, Kowloon, Planet Hollywood, the restaurants, 
    	  the babes.

    When at OGO, don't miss the "Trash and Dish" room

    Re: .1
    
    You're right, the Salem museum is a tourist trap.  I could think of
    much more interesting places around Boston than Salem.
    
>    paraphernalia and books. Even if you're not "into" this
>    sort of thing, it's pretty harmless fun...
    
    Personal experience says otherwise.
    
    When in Phoenix, and you can get a ticket, you must go to America West
    Arena to see the best NBA team in the land.  Plenty of other sites
    around the state too: Grand Canyon, Tombstone (OK Corral), Meteor &
    Sunset Craters, Petrified Forest, gambling on Indian reservations,
    skiing in the mountains, great bass fishing in the rivers/lakes, great
    deer & elk seasons, jet skiing and boating all hundreds of miles of
    lakes, Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams, try your hand at haggling at the 
    border shopping markets, San Xavier del Bac mission, Timothy McVeigh's 
    trailer, and UFO abduction sites.
    
    Mike

    If you find yourself in Worcester Mass, considered by many
    people who know such things to be almost as good as Fitchburg,
    there are a few things you might want to check out.

    First and foremost, there are actually decent science and
    art museums to be had. The Higgins Armory also boasts a
    fairly nice collection of medieval armor. Culture Vultures
    might want to take in a concert at Mechanic's Hall,
    considered by some to be acoustically surpassed only by
    Carnagie Hall.

    Good restaurants include the Thai Orchid, Dino's, the
    Sweetheart (Indian), the El Moracco (which used to be
    a hangout for celebs visiting Boston, went downhill,
    but now is on the rebound) and East Side Marios.

    And of course, you need to find your way a bit east to
    the infamous "Spags", on Rt 9 in Shrewsbury. Not as great
    as it used to be (since Spag's wife died and "Spag"
    [Anthony Borgatti] went into retirement, but still
    worthy of the trip.) On of the most unique shopping
    experiences in the US.

    For the poor person stuck overnight in Worcester, you
    can dance at the Club 241 (it's usually a gay clientele
    until after hours on the weekend, so if that sort of
    thing freaks you out, stay away... but the women do
    like to go there to dance the night away), and you
    can chow down all night at either the Boulevard
    Diner (Italian/American fare) or the Acapulco
    (Mexican).

    -b

    
    Other worcester restaurants:
    
    The Sakora Tokyo, which serves decent sushi (the eel is very
    good), as well as hibachi fare...
    
    And several Chinese restaurants, although I tend to lean
    toward Chopsticks at Webster Square...
    
    -b

    Venturing to western Mass... the town of Amherst, the home
    of Amherst College and the University of Massachusetts,
    always has something going on... from Teddy Bear festivals
    to antique car shows, with lots of shops.

    Further west, are Lenox and Lee. Lenox features Tanglewood,
    the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The
    town of Stockbridge is nice, with tons of specialty shops
    and restaurants. Mount Graylock is a bit to the north,
    as is the "Mohawk Trail", considered to be one of the
    premier foliage drives in the Northeast.

    -b

    And finally... (for now), going back east again there's
    Lexington and Concord. Sights include Waldon Pond (a
    nice place to walk) and the site of the first battle
    in the US revolutionary war.

    Into Boston, there's a great aquarium, a decent science
    museum, a better than average art museum, a small but
    distinguished museum called the "Gardner" that features
    furnishings, as well as the most famous painting by
    Titian: the Europa; the old north church and other
    revolutionary war sights...

    -b

    P.S. the actual title of Titian's painting is the "Rape
         of Europa", and it is a matter of great controversy
         to many Europeans that, not only is this great
         work of European history in the US, it is also,
         by the will of the founder of the Gardner museum,
         not allowed to be loaned to other museums (this
         painting has a fascinating history BTW, and it's
         worth picking up a book on the subject and
         exploring...)

    
    Whoops, make that Walden pond in .20.
    
    -b

    we have East Side Mario's out here.  Olive Garden is better and
    cheaper.

    
    Stanford U campus (across the RR trax from SRC) features a 
    statue of a bowel movement in front of the buisness school. 
                       

I'm at a total loss.

I read .-1 at least 5 times and just can't conclude how
to react to that.

    	It's California, Jack.
    
    	No reaction is necessary.

RHC is based at Britain's oldest city.  There's a McDonalds and a couple
of pubs nearby.

Chris.

    HBF
    	Hamburg has Europe's second biggest port. Quite impressive.
    	Some very high class theatres.
    	North and Baltic Sea are 2 hours drive from here.
    	Quality restaurants are there, but not where a tourist'd look.
    
    	Just ask me.

    TAY in Littleton is convieniently located at the intersection of Route
    2, (east/west highway), and Route 495 (north/south highway). also got a 
    train station down the street. 

re: .-1

    Ah, that's right. I always have to take care to relax as I'm heading
to TAY, as I often fear that the excitement generally in the air might
be somehow risky.

     Wine country is a short 90-100 minute drive from SRC. San Francisco
    and all of its interesting "culture" is but a half hour.

    
    
    When at LKG, you simply MUST visit Kimball's!!!!  :*)
    
    
    
    (Anyone wanna do a Kimball's lunch today?)
    
    
    Terrie
    

    
    well in Chicago, you have just about everything. Museums, Shedd
    Aquarium, Wrigley Field, Adler Planaterium, Magnificent Mile. etc
    
    Arlington Park Racecourse, for the horse players, some of the best
    restaraunts you could ever hope for. Ravinia Park for concerts.
    Beaches for the sunbathers. I don't know, I sure love this city.
    
    Mark

    
    
    in maynard, on a nice bright sunny day, you can find many of the locals
    lunching (or desserting ) at errickson's...they have simply wonderful
    frozen yogurt and ice cream and it's location in stow is but a mere
    10+/- drive from all sites...
    
    

Three weeks of the year, the world's largest gathering of dealers in antiques
and collectibles is in Brimfield MA.

    CYO (Cincinnati)
    
    Actually, our office is in Blue Ash, but there's really not a lot to do
    here.  8^)
    
    For family type entertainment- Cincinnati Zoo, Playhouse in the Park,
    Forest Fair Mall (the gaudiest mall in existence, I imagine, kids love
    it- lots of carnival games and such), King's Island, Surf Cincinnati,
    and boat rides on the river; to name a few.
    
    For the nightclub/bar-hoppers we have America Live (about 10 different
    bars from Country to New Age music) & City Lights (Covington, KY- just 
    across the river from downtown Cincinnati) which is not anything
    extraordinary, but has a very nice setting- it is on the river overlooking 
    the Cincinnati and has a dock that you can walk out on to escape the 
    music/crowds.
    
    For fine dining, we have Mike Fink's (the floating seafood resteraunt) 
    and a few others on the river.  There are one or two 3-4 star resteraunts 
    as well, but the names escape me at the moment.
    
    
    -steve

    In MK0, famous for its three seasons, early winter, deep winter, and
    late winter. There is the ever so famous Taco-Bell!:)

re: .40

Steve,

You forgot the most important thing about Cincinnati, SKYLINE CHILI!

Oh yeah, stay away from the art museum, you might get arrested.

Bob

Surf Cincinnati?

>    prime rib, breasts, loins and rump roasts.

ooh er.

    -1 breasts? yum-yum...
    
       Chip

    >In Tyngsboro - south of ZKO - is Matthews Restaurant. 
    
     I bet you go there for the $3 all you can eat lunch buffet...

    REO,Reading England.
    
    Er,um. 
    
    
    Nope. Can`t think of anything remotely interesting. The chip shop
    nearby was voted best in the South of England,I think. And there
    was a stabbing outside the Engineers Arms pub the other night. 
      
    It`s a bit of a toilet,really.
    
    

    
    
    isn't that matthews home of 'sophisticated adult entertainment' or
    something like that????
    
    

    re: .43
    
    Oh yeah.  Forgot about that one.  Cincinnati style chili, via Skyline
    (which I like better than Goldstar Chili).
    
    I think I may go there for lunch today, as a matter of fact.  
    
    
    -steve

    re: .44
    
    Surf Cincinnati is a waterpark, with the slides and wave machines, big
    pool and all that.  8^)

    
    they do that at sweeney and todds.

    >Stanford U campus (across the RR trax from SRC) features a
    >statue of a bowel movement in front of the buisness school.
    
    My dog has lots of BMs in the backyard, that I have to pick up every
    Saturday. Can I send them to you? Maybe I can start a BM pile here in
    Colorado. It might go over well with the influx of Californians over
    the last few years. :)
    
    ...Tom

re: .51

>    I think I may go there for lunch today, as a matter of fact.  

Go ahead, rub it in, why don't you:-(

Bob

    When in MKO, a tour through the Currier Gallery of Art in
    Manchester, as well as the Frank Lloyd Wright house would be
    in order.  Got more time?  Drive north :-).
    
    If you are in NIO, catch some harness racing at Rockingham
    Park and take a day trip to Portsmouth.
    
    Should you be in NH on a Thursday, pick up a Union Leader
    and go to an auction!
    
    Mary-Michael

�                     <<< Note 407.33 by CALLME::MR_TOPAZ >>>
�       Greylock.
�       
�       Highest point in the Commonwealth, and home to one its foulest
�       eyesores.
�       
�       --Mr Topaz

  Do you refer to the monument to WWI veterans ???????
kb

When coming to ALF, now shared with Northern Telecom, be sure to see the
mini cubes occupied by the Digital employees.  A must see also is the
luxury suite/rental office facilities has built for themselves.

Paul

    
    When in Atlanta, a must see is Stormin Normans.

>       > Nashua, New Hampshire
>       
>       
>       Anagram:    Where Man has his puns

Don't you mean "Where a man has his pun?"

    Actually, the view from the CXO cafeteria is breathtaking.
    
    ...Tom

    	That's the CXO1 cafeteria, not the CXO3 cafeteria, right?

    >That's the CXO1 cafeteria, not the CXO3 cafeteria, right?
    
    That's right Joe, sorry you have to eat at CX03 :-PPpppPppppp
    
    ...Tom

       <<< Note 407.24 by OUTSRC::HEISER "the dumbing down of America" >>>
                   -< Andrea's on Rt. 9 is good for Italian >-

>    we have East Side Mario's out here.  Olive Garden is better and
>    cheaper.
    
    Only you could rave about an Olive Garden franchise -  the Red Lobster
    of Italian cuisine (sic).
    
    Mark.

    
    Oh, and I missed the stuff about Andrea's too... you really
    don't get out much, do you Mike? :-)
    

    In and around Toronto there is,
    
    CN Tower, Skydome (where the Jays play), Ontario Place, CNE ( an annual
    expo) Woodbine racetrack, Many good theaters and restaurants, and of
    course Niagara Falls is within driving distance.

 I like Toronto..its been several years since I was there, but I really liked
 it there.




 Jim

    
    Jim!   There was a show on TV last night about Jim Henson!!
    

 Yeah, we taped that one a while ago..did you like it?

    
    I only saw a bit of it, but it looked pretty good.
    

Was their Mom on the special?

    Did you have fries with that?

 When in Dascomb Road be sure to check out the much balleyhooed roof reconstruc-
 tion project (RRP), and later in the summer, check out the goose pooped 
 sidewalks.



Jim

>> When in Dascomb Road be sure to check out the much balleyhooed roof reconstruc-
>> tion project (RRP),

    i have a front row seat for this.  slight trepidation as large objects
    are hoisted to the roof by crane, but it's great fun watching the guy
    operate the crane levers with his feet.  multi-talented, yes he is.

    >>    we have East Side Mario's out here.  Olive Garden is better and
>>    cheaper.
>    
>    Only you could rave about an Olive Garden franchise -  the Red Lobster
>    of Italian cuisine (sic).

    Marky-pooh, only you could take something out of context to make a
    point that has nothing to do with the subject.  You conveniently
    ignored the reply title too.
    
    Some advice: don't wear your velour shorts to an Italian restaurant. 
    You might get tomato stains on your velour seats in your Volvo too.

    Mike

>    Oh, and I missed the stuff about Andrea's too... you really
>    don't get out much, do you Mike? :-)
    
    not in New England I don't.

WLO, Welwyn; not a bad town, but crap shopping centre and lack of pubs.
And an empty DEC building.

Chris.

Come to SCA or DLO in the spring and you might see some Texas-sized hail:-(

Bob

    Bob,
    
    Was your car among the metal casualties?  What I saw on the news
    gives a whole new meaning to "golf ball" sized hail!!
    

re: .86

Karen,

Nope, fortunately.  BTW, it was ORANGE sized.

Bob

    > Nope, fortunately.  BTW, it was ORANGE sized.
    
    Proving that old saw about everything in Texas being big...
    
    Glad you made it through the storms OK.
    
    -b

I heard it was grapefruit sized.

    
    I heard it was watermelon sized.
    

    hail is always only two sizes. golf ball and grapefruit.

    internal cysts are always grapefruit sized.

    Well, I know I've seen pomegranate sized hail! :-)

    But you've never heard of someone having a cyst the size of a
    pomegranate removed.

The bad weather in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area usually comes from the
southwest, clobbering Fort Worth and parts of Dallas, so living north of Dallas,
I usually miss the worst of everything.

Bob

    And around MRO, there's ... well, there's ... well, you could drive
    up to LKG and visit Kimball's...

    Or, you could drive into Northboro and... well... nevermind.

>    internal cysts are always grapefruit sized.

    How about the woman who had a 300 lb+ ovarian cyst removed?

    Bill

 That was one BIG grapefruit!

    How about the person with the birth mark that had the face of Jesus in
    it?  

    
    So, did that 300 lb cyst turn out to be a family of four that
    was using her ovary as a condo?
    

    could have been the frenchman that lives inside Martin's head.

	re .96

	If in Northboro, you could go by the house where I grew up.

	If you parked your car outside and sat there a while, you
	could probably even meet the Northboro police (if my Mom was
	home to call them and report you) :-)

	Karen

    re .101 - No that's not possible. he died of alcohol poisoning,
    apparently I now have to stand trial for murder.

    
    >The World's Largest Ball of Twine is about 30 minutes from MPO.
    
    
    	So the Weird Al song is actually fact-based?
    
    	"The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota"
    

    
    >Take rt 146 south out of Worcester Mass, take the 2nd 146A
    >exit, bear left at the end****, go until you reach a traffic
    >light (with a Cumberland Farms on your right)++++, take a right,
    >and follow the signs to Wrights...
    
    	Right where the **** is, you are about 2 miles from my house.
    
    
    	And right where the ++++ is, if you:
    
    	Go straight through the light, stop at the "T" intersection,
    	take a right and then a very quick/sharp left and follow that
    	road for a mile or so to the "The Pines" sign and take a right,
    	The Pines is about 1/2 mile away on the left.  Same format as
    	Wright's Farm and possibly better food.  Definitely not as busy,
    	and you won't have to wait as long to get a table.
    

    
    I've been to Pines. You're right, it's pretty good. Just couldn't
    quite remember how to get there.
    
    -b

    
    so what's the format? I'm from out of town.

    
    	They specialize in family style chicken/pasta ... all you can eat.
    
    	They both offer other meals as well.
    

    SHR Shrewsbury Ma. DEC is on South Street.
    
    - Next to Quantum (cant miss the oversized sign with big aluminum
      letters)
    
    - Homestead Farms (big cow farm)
    
    - Fretter's (just in case you have a craving at lunch time to go 
      appliance shopping)
    
    - Shropshire II Curiosity Shop (For all interested in figures,
      collectors plates, music boxes aka..dust collectors)
    
    - Old Shrewsbury Village (up the road)-what else but the Xmas
      Tree Shop!

>    SHR Shrewsbury Ma. DEC is on South Street.
    
I wish youze Shermans wouldn't keep naming towns after their British
namesakes, it causes me endless confusion... :/

Chris.

    
    Shrewsbury Mass. is a great place you limey git! :-)
    

> you limey git! :-)
    
oi, less of the limey, you, it makes lager taste disgusting!  (As I
found out at the local pub, when the new barmaid couldn't understand
me for being foreign and all (ie from northern England!)  Aargh!)

Chris.

    > it makes lager taste disgusting!
    
    Disgusting lager is a tautology.  Gits wot don't drink bitter deserve
    to suffer.

>    Disgusting lager is a tautology.  Gits wot don't drink bitter deserve
>    to suffer.

oh, I'll drink that too (in fact in preference to lager), but lager's
cheap and I'm on a Digital salary!

Chris.

You can mention Shrewsbury and not mention Spag's?  Shame!

    
    See .18
    
    -b

    Gee how could I forget Spags!
    
    It is growing by leaps and bounds with new additions that have been
    added in the past year. No more crowded isles! Spags is still a cool
    place to shop, and you still find pretty good deals.

There are isles at Spag's?  Do they have a new lagoon or something?

    I do all my isthmus shopping there.

Panama hats?  You can buy insulin in the Isles of Langerhans.

    
    I had an infection once and they gave me peninsula.
    

    
    are there still shrews in shrewsbury?

    
    Yes...but they've all been buried.
    

Here is a peninsula, and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland
	
All right. Why a duck?
	

Sometimes a duck is just a duck.

    Becaussssssse..... If you don't duck via the viaduct you'll hit your
    head.

	All right. Why a duck? Why-a-no-chicken?
	
I don't know why-a-no-chicken. I'm a stranger here myself. All I know is
that it's a viaduct. You try to cross over there a chicken, and you'll
find out why a duck. It's deep water, that's why a duck.

	That's-why-a-duck?

Look ... Suppose you were out horseback riding and you came to that
stream and wanted to ford over there, you couldn't make it. Too deep.

	But what do you want with a Ford when you gotta horse?

Well, I'm sorry the matter ever came up. All I know is that it's a viaduct.

    I forgot to mention all the ducks we have around here.  They seem
    undaunted by the increase of buildings/traffic in this area.  In fact,
    they can be frequently seen crossing the highways and blocking traffic. 
    8^)
    
    They seemed particularly happy this morning when I was heading down 126
    on my way to work.  Wonder why?  8^)  
    
    -steve

    What about the sanity clause?
    

    Silly widow, there ain't no sanity clause!

/john got to you, too, eh?

    
    The Bata Shoe Museum just opened in Toronto.
    
    
    
    Seriously.
    

    I hope the government didn't foot the bill for it.

    >    <<< Note 407.0 by MPGS::MARKEY "The bottom end of Liquid Sanctuary" >>>
                                  -< Sights at Sites >-
    
        This note is dedicated to things to see/not see and do/not do
        when you happen to be visiting other Digital sites...
    
        What cool stuff is near you? What stuff should be avoided?
       
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    
    avoid the CXO cafeteria. 
    
    My bodily functions are *still* outa whack since the up-close and personal
    encounter with the 'Chef's surprise'..
    
    (I wondered what they did with the characters from the X-files, now I
     know - {splash! in the pot!}
    
    

Was the chef named Montezuma?

    > Was the chef named Montezuma?
    
    One and the same. 
    
    'scuse me, I gotta go now....

    <-- That falls into the category of; "A little more than we needed to
    know"
    
    
    Mike
    

    sames for my lil' buddy!